10,000 pepper recipes

Juicy chunks of chicken and crisp sweet sugar snap peas are in a sweet and slightly sour sauce, it's quick and easy to make, suitable for a weeknight and colorful enough for the weekend. Ready in less than 20 minutes flat.

Grilled Salisbury steak patties with grated onion, chives, and garlic, broiled to order and finished with a buttery Belmont sauce of ketchup, mustard, lemon, and sherry. Supper-club classic.

Joe Cooper's chili is a classic Texas bowl of red: three pounds of beef simmered with dried chiles, garlic, cumin, oregano, and a hint of cocoa. No beans, no tomatoes, just deep beef-and-chile flavor thickened with cornmeal and flour.

Leg of lamb stuffed with rice rolls a butterflied Pakistani-spiced lamb leg around a mushroom and rice filling, roasted to carving-perfect for a showstopper holiday main.

Copycat Pappasito's creamy poblano soup with sauteed peppers, carrots, and onion in a butter-cream roux, finished with melted Monterey Jack cheese. Rich, spicy, and restaurant-quality.

Roasted tomatillo salsa verde with charred jalapenos, eight cloves of garlic, and fresh cilantro pureed smooth. Bright, tangy, and ready in 30 minutes.

Low fat Mexican-style creamed corn simmers corn kernels with bell peppers, celery, and green chiles, then binds with reduced-fat cream cheese and skim milk. A lighter Tex-Mex side.

Alligator stew simmers tender cubes of gator tail in a spiced broth of green chiles, tomato, garlic and cumin. A soak in salted water and milk first keeps the meat mild and tender. A true Cajun wild-game stew.

Wild Card chili stirs molasses into a beef-and-bean chili with red beans, refried beans and chili powder. The molasses is the wild card. A 1-hour weeknight pot.

Southern minced barbecue pork shoulder slow-boiled with vinegar, cayenne, and hot sauce, then chopped and seasoned. A tangy, vinegar-based pulled pork in the Eastern Carolina tradition.

Easy ratatouille roasts eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, peppers, red onion, and Roma tomatoes in one pan with a Dijon-balsamic-garlic marinade. The shortcut version of the classic Provencal vegetable stew.

Crab cakes with tomatillo salsa bind lump crabmeat with bread and egg white for a light crust, pan-seared and topped with tangy diced tomatillo-lime salsa. Southwest-style seafood dinner.

North Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce with apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, hot sauce, and red pepper flakes. A thin, tangy no-cook sauce for pulled pork.

Mashed carrot casserole baked with sharp cheddar cheese, grated onion, buttered bread crumbs, and parsley. A creamy vegetable side dish that converts even the pickiest carrot skeptics.

A quick Cajun red beans and rice with canned kidney beans, chopped sausage, Creole seasoning, and Louisiana hot sauce. Thick, spicy, and on the table in 30 minutes for a weeknight taste of New Orleans.

Horn and Hardart's classic baked macaroni and cheese with a from-scratch cheddar bechamel, a touch of tomato, and a hint of cayenne. The iconic automat recipe recreated at home.